Ready.... Set.... School!

The time has come. As of today, we have officially sent both kids off to school. I'm doing remarkably better than I thought I would be. Haha! Two night ago (Sunday) as we got the kids ready for bed, Kenzie requested to read Oh, The Places You'll Go. She requested it because I had been talking about taking a picture of the kids together with it and we have read it before. Especially before events like the first day of school. I admit, as I sat in Kenzie's bed with both kids reading it, I had to fight the tears. Kenzie wanted extra hugs on Sunday night. I don't think she was nervous, but I do think she wasn't 100% sure of what Monday would hold for her. Part of it was more excitement than anything else. Will was just mad that he only had Meet the Teacher on Monday and not a real day of school. This kid was so excited to get to go to school like his Sissy and wanted to start right away.

I feel like I should specify that I didn't pose her.
This is solid Kenzie sass. She owns it. 

Kenzie is in her third year of schooling but her very, very first year in a real, big school. Elementary school! Our little baby is officially a KINDERGARTENER!! I'm still not 100% sure how this happened. Just a couple of days ago I feel like I walked her in for her first day of her 3-year-old class and she walked in announcing "Bye Mommy!" never looking back. And now... well yesterday we walked her into her first day of kindergarten. She still seems to tiny. She just turned 5 a couple of weeks ago. We did learn from the teacher that most of her class this year is young. There are at least two little ones that haven't even turned 5 yet but they will in the next couple of weeks before the cutoff. We aren't worried about her though. She is a bright little girl with big things ahead of her and we know she will be just fine. Both Steven and I were the young'uns when we were in school so we are well aware of challenges she may face but we have every belief that she will excel. She was so excited leading up to getting to school and continued to be excited as we waited to go inside. Once inside, it was super crowded, which we expected, but it was all a bit overwhelming. Kenzie was obviously a bit overwhelmed but she held it all together. Both Steven and I could see it in her face that she was just a bit unsure but we can't blame her. This is all new to all of us. The teacher's son was in the room along with a support person that will be there for the first couple of weeks. They were helping the kids get settled for the day and teaching them some of the morning routine when they came in. For instance, they have to put their name magnet on the board for whether they are buying lunch (and if so, which entree choice they want) or if they brought lunch, putting their snack in the snack bin so it can be put away for snack time since they have such a late lunch, hanging their backpacks, and getting on the carpet to read a book while they waited for the rest of the class. She did it very quietly but when it was time for us to leave she tried to leave without hugs. Not happening, Kid. We stopped her and both Steven and I noticed that she went to Will first for a hug. She loves that little guy. She gave each of us one and we left. I was tearing up some but realized I forgot to take a picture with her teacher so I had to get myself together to go back in a get a picture. Luckily, Kenzie is not easily rattled so me coming back in wasn't an issue. I got my picture, one more hug, and sent her on her way. And with that... kindergarten. Steven and I were both doing okay by then but decided to go into the Boohoo Yahoo Breakfast that the PTA puts on. We were able to grab bagels and coffee (and a donut and juice for Will) and watch the morning announcements. Steven was amazed that they still do this. I knew about it from being in schools but he thought it was cool. It was fun to see. Will just kept asking if we could go to his school now. It was his meet the teacher so we headed out after that and walked away from that big school with our tiny baby in it. Her second day was even better, I think. She is getting the lay of the land and feeling more comfortable. She asked us to walk her in but this will be the final day we do it as from this point forward she will get out of the car and head to the cafeteria until it is time to go to her class. She is ready.

When you forget to use the cute picture area on
day 1, you improvise. =)

We actually met her teacher a little over a week ago for the first time. The kindergarten teachers do one-on-one meet and greets with all their students. They know that this is a huge transition for young children (and their parents) so they set us up early for success. And that started with bringing us in to meet her teacher, Ms. Casisa. I mentioned in a prior post that Kenzie really liked her. She was very excited for Kenzie to join her class and that came across in talking to her. It set Kenzie at ease. Though really... Kenzie wasn't super nervous to begin with. I still don't know where she gets it, but this kid has minimal social fears. I think I was more worried than Kenzie. I had heard through the Mommy grapevine that her teacher was a "yeller" then was told that she was just one of those people that was loud (like me). Later I found someone that said that her child had her last year and they all loved her. That, in conjunction with meeting her, set my mind at ease. We learned about how the kindergarten classes run at WLE and about what would be expected  of Kenzie, and of us. We were given a few forms to fill out and information on joining PTA. We are also both going to register with ADDitions so we can volunteer in the classroom when we have time or help out with field trips if they need them. Kenzie was given her first "homework". She had to decorate her name tag that would then be cut out and made into a puzzle so that the class can use them to learn each others' names. She did a great job on it too. She decided to Moana theme it. She had to draw that Heart of Te Fiti so that I could help her get glue and glitter on it.

The Thursday before school started, we went to the official Meet the Teacher. We were able to walk around the school some and go to Kenzie's classroom. It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun. She was super excited to see her little area at the table and her cubby. She thinks the backpack hooks are so much fun. I think she is just super excited to get to carry a backpack as they weren't necessary in preschool so we didn't get her one. We went and picked up our car hang tags that we will use for pick ups. We joined PTA and bought Kenzie a school shirt. It was a bit of an overwhelming scenario with every student and parent running around like crazy there.

This little girl is growing up way too fast.

Then there is Will. Our little baby. Today he started his official schooling career. Today I walked him into the 2-year-old class at SCP. What was once "Sissy's school" is now referred to as "Will's school". Honestly, I'm sort of happy that it worked out like this. That they each had their own time at SCP to become their own people without the other hanging around. I'm also pretty happy that Will is in the 2-year-old class with a teacher that doesn't personally know Kenzie. He will follow behind her through the rest of his schooling and may even share some teachers with her. I'm glad to see that he will get to start clean slate as his own little man. Not "Kenzie's little brother." Will's birthday is late. He is our little October baby so although he is set to turn 3 in just two months, he is in the 2-year-old class. He had an amazing first day. When we walked him in this morning he also had a brief moment of uncertainty. He ran back to me despite heading down the hall alone at first and asked for me to pick him up. Daddy told him that he would hold his hand and that was all the encouragement he needed. He walked right into his class when we got there (hence the reason I don't have a picture of him with his teachers). He actually had to squeeze through two people talking at the doorway but did so and went straight for the toys. I could see him in there already doing fine. When I picked him up, he ran out to me to get a hug and told me he had a "great day!" and other than being concerned that I might forget his lunchbox, he was ready to go back again. He would go every day if we let him. He did have an accident on his first day. The teacher said it was at the very end of the day and he did really well the rest of the day. He told me he told his teacher that he had to potty earlier in the day but forgot at the end of the day. Oh well. Hopefully that was a one and done thing though because if he has a few accidents in a week, they will ask me to put him back in pull-ups for a while. I have no problem with doing that for their sanity but we KNOW he is potty trained so it is frustrating and he hates pull ups unless he is sleeping at night. He doesn't even like them at nap anymore. I also don't want to set him back at all. We had a slight fear of that with this class as he is one of the oldest and one of the few fully potty trained anyway. Oh well. We will cross that bridge if/when we get there. Other than that, he was great. His teacher told me that he had a perfect first day and that he is such a joy to have in the class. He was very sweet and helpful. Sounds like a little girl I know. He is going to rock school just like his sister did. This was the best choice we could have made for him this year and I'm so excited to see how he grows with his social skills and educational gains this year.

Will had an official Meet the Teacher on the same day that Kenzie started school. That actually worked out really well because Daddy was able to drop of Kenzie with me on her first day of kindergarten and then we were able to go to Meet the Teacher together for Will. He knew exactly what to do when we got there too. He didn't know which class was his (though we did) because Kenzie was never in the 2's at SCP. We went right there though and learned that there are 8 kids in the class (though they may not all come on Tuesday and Thursday) and there is another William. We stood and talked to his two teachers for a while as Will acted like he was right at home. He immediately went to the tool work table before going to the kitchen and then settling into the cars. He knows what he likes and he never even said boo or anything about being in there. You could tell he is used to being without us at this point. A year ago, I was worried about the day we dropped him off. I no longer am at this point. He is an easy going kid that can get along with anyone. We picked up a supply "list" which is basically just one or two things per kid and discussed things like lunch time, outside time, gym buddies, pottying, and everything with the teachers. I know their faces but it's nice to get to actually have new teachers for Will. They knew Kenzie by name and asked if she was the one with blonde curly hair so they knew of her but they never had her so they didn't have any preconceived notions of her or maybe Will. We let him play for about 30 minutes before we took him out of there. He was ready to stay all day though, I think. As we left we saw a mom come in with her little guy that we know as her older son was in class with Kenzie. We learned that they will be together on Tuesday and Thursday so that is good. He left excited to come back for the next day. He was so cute leaving too as he stopped at Kenzie's class from last year all excited that it was Kenzie's class and he remembered. The teacher from last year asked how Kenzie did at school since it was her first day and remarked about how tall Will grew over the summer. It's so nice to have this school that everyone knows our family and they have a true interest in our kids. I am so glad we chose this school 2 years ago and now Will is going to get to be a part of it too.

So, here we are. The kids are off. I'm sad about having to let our babies grow up but I'm so ready to see them flourish and all the amazing things they will do in their schooling and future. We hope that emphasizing the importance of learning new things whether through school or life experiences will help set them up for great things. Both Steven and I value school and we hope that we can encourage the kids to make the most out of their time there. It's part of the reason we started in preschool rather than VPK or even Kindergarten. I think they are ready. They are ready to get out there and show the world who they are.

Oh the Places You'll Go...